Purpose – In France, there seems to be no immediate correlation between the desire to opt for an entrepreneurial career and actually starting or taking over a business. Based on this observation, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the entrepreneurial process and more specifically on its...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the heterogeneity of the initial growth trajectories adopted by young firms, using an approach similar to Delmar et al. 's analysis, in order to better understand and describe the underlying development patterns. Design/methodology/approach –...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the links between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and intrapreneurship within the context of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper builds on a historical review of the two main...

Purpose – Entrepreneurship scholars have become more demanding concerning detailed investigations of nascent venturing processes. The purpose of this paper is to propose indicators measuring the impact that these processes in general, and support actions in particular, have on individuals....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the transfer of good practices under the effect of various aspects of personal networks. Whereas, the majority of former work considers a direct effect of networks on knowledge transfer, the authors examined two intermediate mechanisms: the access...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze resources and capabilities that distinguish between traditional, slow born‐global and rapid born‐global micro‐firms. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses multiple case study methodology. Three case studies are...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the exploitation of export information in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the contrasting institutional contexts of France and Romania. Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative approach is based on 18 semi‐directed...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the sound practical reasons underlying the behaviour of very small enterprise (VSE) owner‐managers with respect to their perceived resistance to the dominant entrepreneurial and managerial models in areas such as management methods,...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present personal testimony of one of the early researchers on small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship in France. Design/methodology/approach – The story of a half‐century evolution is divided into five decades, of SME and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to closely study young French small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The authors highlight the structure of these target firms and build a typology of corresponding business models. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a dataset of 38,000 young...